Improved thermoelectric power measurements using a four-point technique
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Corcoran, J
Raja, S
Nagy, PB
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The Seebeck coefficient of a material is dependent on its composition and microstructure and is consequently sensitive to service related material degradation; of particular interest is the sensitivity to thermal and irradiation embrittlement which may be exploited for the material characterisation of in service components. Conventionally, thermoelectric measurements are taken using a two-point contact technique which introduces a temperature differential in the test component through a heated ‘hot tip’ electrode; it is argued that measurements using this methodology are sensitive to the thermal contact resistance between the component and the electrodes. An alternative three- or four-point technique is proposed where heat is introduced to the component remotely which leads to much less sensitivity to contact condition. An experiment is presented that compares the two techniques and demonstrates the improved performance of the four-point technique. Aside from the improved accuracy, the modified technique also facilitates a ‘passive’ implementation that could be used from continuous monitoring of components in service.
Date Issued
2017-12-21
Date Acceptance
2017-12-17
Citation
NDT and E International, 2017, 94, pp.92-100
ISSN
0963-8695
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
92
End Page
100
Journal / Book Title
NDT and E International
Volume
94
Copyright Statement
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Subjects
09 Engineering
Acoustics
Publication Status
Published